Thursday, November 6, 2008

Ninjas, Grills and Racecars

We spent last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, just out of Ft Worth for the Dickies 500. My family has always been involved in racing, from dirt tracks to driving school, and we've been to a race at TMS every year since it opened. With this year's race falling on Halloween weekend, the young un and I decided to hit the road for a little "truck or treat" at the racetrack. Unfortunately, traffic slowed us down (one of the things I DO. NOT. MISS. about DFW) and we didn't get to walk around. The boys did get to haunt the campsite though. Mine is the ninja, of course...look at those sweet sword skills :)

Race weekend is difficult to put into words. There are trailers set up from every major sponsor (Coca Cola, Nicorette, U.S. Army, Red Cross, Lowe's, etc) and a ton of freebies to be had. One of our favorite tents is Brookshires, where you can spin the prize wheel for eco-bags, playing cards, or a chance to be in the money booth. Another is the Lowe's trailer where the kdis can make a pine wood car and the adults can play games for free tools. And when we go to the track, it's all about the freebies. Free t-shirts, license plate frames, TUMs, sun visors, coozies, key chains, pins, lanyards, and posters. We turn nothing down. We haul our stash back in one of the thousands of plastic bags they hand out and make sure everyone got one of each. This year we wer efortunate enough to have garage passes that allowed of access during the entir race. It was mom's first trip into the garage/pit, so we tried to give her the whole experience.

My favorite thing about race weekend? The food! Dad loves to bring out thr grill and the dutch oven for a little breakfast.